1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heat transfer recording apparatus for transferring the ink of an ink sheet to a recording medium to thereby record images on a recording medium, and a facsimile apparatus.
The term "heat transfer recording apparatus" covers, for example, a facsimile apparatus, an electronic typewriter, a copying apparatus, a printer apparatus, etc.
2. Related Background Art
Generally, a heat transfer printer uses an ink sheet comprising a base film having heat-meltable (or heat-sublimating) ink applied thereto, selectively heats the ink sheet by a thermal head in conformity with an image signal, and transfers the melted (or sublimated) ink to the recording sheet to thereby accomplish image recording. Generally, this ink sheet is such that the ink is completely transferred to the recording paper by one operation of image recording (a so-called one time sheet) and therefore, after the termination of recording of one character or one line, it has been necessary to convey the ink sheet by an amount corresponding to the length of the record, and then reliably bring the unused portion of the ink sheet to a recording position. This has increased the quantity of ink sheets used, and there has been the tendency that as compared with the ordinary thermosensitive printer which effects recording on thermosensitive paper, the running cost of the heat transfer printer becomes high.
In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed a heat transfer printer as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,392, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 58-201686 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-58917 wherein recording paper and an ink sheet are conveyed with a velocity difference provided therebetween. As described in the aforementioned publications, an ink sheet capable of plural (n) times of image recording (a so-called multiprint sheet) is known, and if such an ink sheet is used, when a recording length L is to be continuously recorded, recording can be accomplished with the conveyance length of the ink sheet which is conveyed after or during the recording of each image being made smaller than the length L (L/n: n&gt;1). Thus, the efficiency of use of the ink sheet increases to n times and a reduction in the running cost of the heat transfer printer can be expected. This recording system is called multiprint.
In such multiprint system, there has been the undesirable possibility that immediately after the start of image recording, the recording paper and the ink sheet stick to each other to prevent multiprint from being accomplished properly. Also, when intermittent recording is effected as during the image reception in a facsimile apparatus, printing is sometimes started from a state in which the ink sheet and the recording paper are completely stopped. In such case, there is the undesirable possibility that even if an electrical energization signal is output to a conveying motor for the conveyance of the ink sheet, the electrical energization of a thermal head is started and the recording operation is executed before the conveying motor for the ink sheet actually starts rotation and the conveyance of the ink sheet has begun. In such a case, image recording is effected with the ink sheet remaining stopped relative to the recording paper, and this has led to the undesirable possibility that the color forming area becomes smaller or the ink sheet and the recording paper stick to each other as previously mentioned.